Co-Founder &amp; Creative Director of Two ToastersOver the past 4.5 years, designed iOS and Android applications for…Simple (Bank)AirbnbZumbaMTVLexusValencellRoom77GoTryItOnBCBSNC+ Just under a 2 dozen other mobile applicationsWorked in various capacities from defining the experience soup to nuts to taking on existing IP and reimagining it

Can only promise to give answers based on my experienceBut I’ll begin to start answering questions such as…Why designing idiomatically for Android (and really any platform) is very importantHow to actually begin designing idiomaticallyWhat are some things that should be avoided in designing for AndroidWhere do you begin as a designer

Can only promise to give answers based on my experienceBut I’ll begin to start answering questions such as…Why designing idiomatically for Android (and really any platform) is very importantHow to actually begin designing idiomaticallyWhat are some things that should be avoided in designing for AndroidWhere do you begin as a designer

The designers of these platforms have all interpreted actions in unique waysLike languages, platforms evolve from simple to complex interactionsThat complexity in interactions is where the differences will tend to ariseDesigners will interpret As a result, users begin to learn the idioms of a platform in the same way you learn to speak a languageYou start slow in figuring out the basic structure and casually, through repeated use, ideas become more engrained over timeLike nouns, sentence structure and colloquialisms; style, actions and layout become the identifiable characteristics of a platform

Think about these resolutions as MDPI being the equivalent of 1x on iPhone and XHDPI as being 2x. HDPI, then, in this case is like 1.5x.

Back – ReliableUp – Up in the stack in the phone (category example)

Equivalent to the navigation bar on iOSOr, in some ways, a header in web design

Transcript of "Designing For Android"

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TWO TOASTERSANDROIDDESIGNING FOR4/26/2013

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WHO ARE YOU?ADIT SHUKLACo-Founder & Creative Directorof Two ToastersAs design lead, he oversees productconceptualization, creative strategy sessions,and visual design. He has led Two Toastersdesign contribution on dozens of apps on bothiOS and Android, ranging from Airbnb andSimple, to Go Try It On and Lexus.

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BEGIN ANSWERINGWhy should I design natively for Android?How can I start designing idiomatically?What should I probably avoid?Where do I begin?DRROOOIIID

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USERS SPEAK INANDROIDNot literally, of courseBut, if you don’t design with Android paradigms,you must either teach the user a new way ofinteracting or risk losing them entirely.IS THERE A ROSETTASTONE ADD ON FORTHAT?

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Using elements from another platformis like forcing a toilet to flush in adifferent direction.THAT’S TOTALLY NOTIDIOMATIC!

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LET’S START WITHBASICS TERMSLDPI, MDPI, HDPI and XHDPIBy far, XHDPI and HDPI are the most commonresolutions and LDPI is almost completelydeprecated.Ratio of screens: 3:4:6:8THAT’S KINDACOMPLICATED.

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THE ACTION BAROH YEAH, LET’S SEESOME ACTION.As defined by Android guidelines:The action bar is a dedicatedpiece of real estate at the topof each screen that isgenerally persistentthroughout the app.“

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THE ACTION BARAH! SO THAT’S WHERE ITGOES.It is 48dp tallin portrait

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THE SETUP• Personally…Photoshop• Use a single PSD and acombo of layer comps withsmart objects to keep app-wide easy• Designing at XHDPI (768x1280px)• 144DPI• Use Skala Preview• Use Invision for prototypingTAKING NOTES.

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TO CONCLUDE…It’s important to consider the idiomaticapproach because it simplifies theinteractions you have to worry about.However, it’s not the end all be all. Becognizant of these idioms so you can pushthem further.DONE YET?